Occupy Oakland: Police move to clear plaza in Oakland

Oakland police began arresting Occupy Oakland protesters Monday morning, and taking down tents. Police in Portland, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City also moved to remove Occupy protest camps from their cities.

Portland Police arrested more than 50 people on Sunday as the authorities cleared out and blocked off encampments of the Occupy movement that has been protesting nationwide over economic issues. The Portland actions were among several by authorities around the country over the weekend to try to close down encampments occupied by demonstrators for weeks.

The police had also set up makeshift fencing around a plaza facing protesters, some 200 of whom were in the street and chanting at an intersection in the early morning hours.

Oakland has seen several clashes between police and protesters in recent weeks.

The Oakland group has been among the most visible and active in the nationwide Occupy movement, which started in New York in September, and is opposed to what the demonstrators see as an unfair concentration of wealth in the United States.

Among other issues, they object to corporate excesses and bailouts of major banks.

The city of Oakland put out a notice addressed "Dear Business Leader" on Monday morning saying the police were enforcing an order issued on Friday.

It said "the City could not assure adequate public health and safety in the plaza" the protesters were occupying.

The statement also said: "We have instructed City staff working around Frank Ogawa Plaza this morning to delay their arrival ... to 10 am. We are sharing this information with Downtown Businesses so that you can use discretion on whether to delay your work day based on your assessment of the situation."